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Bones Round Table: Death and Children

Jared’s ashes went missing in transit... Booth and Brennan both headed back to work ... and Cam dealt with everyone’s concerned reaction to her breakup on Bones Season 11 Episode 3.

Below, TV Fanatics Ashley Sumerel and Christine Orlando are joined by Pam from Castle and Bones Radio to debate what to tell little Christine about death, if Hodgins was right to set up the art show and if they would have grabbed to marmalade for themselves in “The Donor in the Drink."

Who did you side with concerning talking to Christine about Jared’s death, Booth or Brennan?

Pam: Booth, I agree with him children need to be children as long as they can they grow up so fast and Brennan tries to treat Christine as an adult when she is only a small child. Too much Info about death at such a young age may come back on her with depression, bad dreams and being anxious about the dangers her parents face with their jobs as she begins to understand what they really do for a living.

Ashley: That's a tough one. I think I land somewhere in the middle, but if I had to choose, I'd say Brennan. Better to be honest about these sorts of things.

Christine: I’m with Brennan, to a point. I think it’s always better to give honest, albeit age appropriate answers. Death is always going to be scary but I think talking about it honestly and openly can help take a bit of the fear out of it.

Should Cam feel guilty about not missing Arastoo more than her job?

Pam: Not if her love of her job was more than her love for Arastoo maybe it wasn't love but lust.

Ashley: No, but I think it's telling that she's more concerned about the job. I've always been a fan of Cam and Arastoo together, but it seems like it's too easy for them to be apart.

Christine: I don’t think there’s any reason to feel guilty. I think they truly loved one another but obviously that love wasn’t stronger than their need to have fulfilling careers. That’s not wrong, it’s just how they feel.

Pam: Hodgins is so proud of his wife and he thinks everything she does is fine by him. In his eyes he wants the world to know how wonderful and talented she is so he really wanted to surprise her as he knew she'd never begin to show her art work if not nudged to "put out there" to be seen so he did it for her. She came around and wanted it for herself after all. He gave her courage and self esteem within her art.

Ashley: I was really worried about this, but I think the fact he did it shows that he knows her really well. She was resistant, but she warmed up to the idea even if it hadn't turned out to be a successful.

Christine: I don’t think it was right to go behind her back like that, even though I know it came from a place of love. I still think that Angela should have been a part of the decision.

Would you have taken the marmalade from the package?

Pam: Sure, it was considered lost mail wit no labels inside or out and completely sealed for safety and it was thrown in the trash. Posession is nine tenths of the law! Finders keepers!

Ashley: Oh, no I don't think so.

Christine: First off, the shipping company would have opened it first and there most likely should have been shipping invoice inside. But given neither of those things happened…heck, why toss good marmalade?

Was there anything in “The Donor in the Drink” that disappointed you?

Pam: I would have liked for Booth and Bones to have discussed Jared's death more and how Booth really felt about his death and not a search for missing ashes. Booth often holds his feelings in and says one thing when he really means another. The writers often brush over how he is affected. They tend gloss over his feelings and reactions to a lot of situations.

Ashley: I'm always bothered by the standard openings with random people finding a body in a gross/weird/silly way. It just seems so unnecessary to me.

Christine: Booth had to burn his brother’s body! I expected him to have more issues with that and the fact that he couldn’t save him.

What was your favorite quote or scene from the episode?

Pam: The closing scene of Booth and Bones sneaking into the bedroom where Hank and Christine were sleeping and how sweet is was to see Christine sleeping by the side of his crib watching over him, wanting to be with him. Watching Bones and Booth with their children and how far they have come since they first met and their first case together. Now if we could just have Parker back home and living with them and interacting with them. He is missed.

Ashley: My favorite moment was when Brennan showed Booth where the ashes had been all along. It brought out some closure, but it also showed more of their family dynamic.

Christine: I love little Christine. Booth seeing how much his daughter loves her little brother was the best moment of the episode.